First Look: Harley Quinn Goes to Comic-Con, Meets Stephen Amell

Even supervillains love to geek out at Comic-Con. In the special DC Comics one-shot issue Harley Quinn Invades Comic-Con International: San Diego, Harley Quinn, the psychiatrist-turned-psychopath, goes celeb hunting at the pop-culture festival and hits the bullseye with the Arrow himself — actually, Arrow star Stephen Amell. His cameo is one of many Easter eggs jammed into the book, written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner and drawn by various artists.

"Harley and her freak show friends get a booth at Comic-Con," Conner says of the set-up. "Harley to come along to help them out [and] wherever she goes, mayhem ensues, and that's what happens at Comic-Con. More mayhem than the usual.

The book takes many knowing winks — and playful digs — at Con culture. "We've been going to Comic-Con for over 20 years and we tried to put in all the positive stuff," says Palmiotti. "We wanted to celebrate Comic-Con rather than go after it. Because that's a whole different book altogether."

The story reveals that Harley herself is an amateur comic illustrator. "She has a comic strip that she wants to show off at the Con to see if anyone's interested in hiring her to draw it," Palmiotti says. "It features a character Harley made up called Hurl Girl, a superhero whose power is to throw up."

That's just one of many, um, gags, that make her one of DC's craziest (and most popular) villains. "She's out of her mind, so anything goes," says Conner, who also drew the pages Harley creates. "There's nothing we can think up that's too crazy for Harley, and that's the best thing. We'll think of something absolutely insane and, [realize] oh yeah, we can do that with Harley."

Harley Quinn Invades Comic-Con International: San Diego goes on sale Wednesday, July 16 at comic book shops and will be available digitally at readdcentertainment.com and via the DC Comics app, the iBookstore, Nook Store and Kindle Store.